Michael Portillo discovers a number of Cumbrian delights in the last leg of his tour of England's north west coast. As part of the BBC's Great Coastal Railway Journeys, Portillo begins his journey railway journey by passing the famous Sellafield nuclear plant in Seascale which he describes as "very secret but very visible from the railway."
The former Conservative MP then met ardent fan of guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright at Kinniside stone circle. Richard Daley explained that the author and illustrator fell in love with the Lake District on a childhood holiday. This inspired him to draw the landscape in what he described as a "work of art" with 400 view points and create famous the Coast 2 Coast walk.
Just ten minutes further up the coast at Whitehaven, Portillo pays a visit to Wils Hambling Butchers which he describes as a "Cumbrian institution". The family business has created sausages for four generations and viewers learn that the famous curly Cumberland sausage is created in one sleeve with no links.
At this point in the show, Portillo dons an apron and with much concentration, attempts to create one before exclaiming "oh no" as his first attempt fails. He's informed by the butchers that he was "too heavy on the throttle" however his second attempt was much better - to which he called the process "glorious stuff".
He then moves on to a more idyllic setting in Cockermouth which is the home of poet William Wordsworth. Here, the journalist discovers Wordsworth's love of the River Derwent nearby and how he feared the invention of the railway would bring too many tourists to the area.
Once again moving up alongside the"fearsome tide", Portillo ends his journey at Maryport overlooking the Solway Firth at the border between England and Scotland. Here, he dons a pair of waders to join a group of fisherman in the tidal surge who still practise the Viking tradition of using massive haaf nets to catch salmon, seatrout, bass and flounders.
Portillo describes the practice unique to the Solway as a "hard life" and "men standing waist deep in fast-running water" as like a "medieval scene."
The episode concluded the former minister's visit to what he describes as the "wild, windswept and regions" of the Cumbrian coast.
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